There were two men knocking on the door of Pei's courtyard. One was in his twenties, with an ordinary and honest look. The other was in his thirties, tall and sturdy, with a full beard. He looked like someone who was not easy to mess with. When the two saw Wen, the burly man asked, "Is this Miss Xu's home?"

When Mrs. Wen saw the two men looking for Yu Niang, her face changed slightly. She was afraid that they were here to cause trouble. She was still thinking about how to change her words. She vaguely felt that the man in his twenties looked familiar. She opened her mouth and saw the man said, "Auntie, don't you recognize me? Don't worry, I am Chef Zhou from Bafang Inn in Raozhou City. When you first came to Raozhou City more than a year ago, you lived in Bafang Inn. In early autumn, Master Xu went to Raozhou City to sell wine."

After Xu Qinyu taught him a few dishes and some cooking tips, he began to call her Master Xu.

This person is indeed Zhou Daqing, and the person next to him is Liang Yiliang Qianhu.

Captain Liang also said, "Don't be afraid, my dear. We are not bad people. We came to see Miss Xu to ask for something."

Even if he missed the food made by Miss Xu so much, he would not come to her house to ask for food, especially in the middle of the night. It was obvious that he really had something urgent.

Wen thought carefully and realized that the younger man was indeed the chef in the inn where she stayed in Raozhou City. She said hurriedly, "Yuniang is still resting, why did you two come here in the middle of the night? Is there something urgent?" She couldn't understand why Yuniang was just a young lady who knew how to cook. Could it be that she was here to make food? Even if they were here to make food for Yuniang, they wouldn't be so anxious in the middle of the night.

Xu Qinyu was also awakened by the knock on the door. She put on her clothes and cloth boots before going out. When she saw the two people at the door, she immediately recognized them and said with a smile, "Chef Zhou, Captain Liang, why are you here?"

Chef Zhou said, "I have something to ask the young lady."

It was still snowing outside and a bit cold, so Wen invited the two of them into the kitchen and boiled some hot water to make tea for them.

Xu Qinyu had already heard the purpose of the two people's visit.

The two of them came for the mother of Zhu Taishou of Raozhou City.

Governor Zhu is fifty years old and was born into a poor family. He has an old mother who is over seventy years old and is considered old. However, Mrs. Zhu's health has been gradually failing in the past two years. When the weather got cold this year, Mrs. Zhu could hardly get out of bed. She became weaker day by day. In the past few days, she has been unconscious more often than awake. A doctor was invited to see her, and he said that Mrs. Zhu was at the end of her life and might die in the next two days. So Governor Zhu was asked to prepare for her funeral.

I wish that the old lady would live a very old age and have never had any illness or misfortune, so it can be considered a happy death.

However, Old Madam Zhu had been refusing to eat or drink for the past few days. Governor Zhu invited several famous chefs in Raozhou City to his house to cook for Old Madam Zhu, but Old Madam Zhu could not eat after just one bite. She had not eaten or drunk for several days. The governor felt sad and hoped that before her death, she could have a full meal and pass away peacefully instead of being hungry.

Governor Zhu knew Liang Yi and had once dined with him. Liang Yi told him that he had once eaten food cooked by a teenage girl, which was so delicious that he still remembered it.

Governor Zhu had invited all the chefs from the restaurants in Raozhou City, but Old Madam Zhu couldn't eat anything. Desperate, he asked someone to invite Liang Yi to the governor's residence and asked her carefully about the young lady who cooked for him in the past and whether she was a good cook.

Liang Yi said to him, "Don't worry, Governor. This young lady's cooking is even better than the chef at Zuixianlou. I don't know why the Madam doesn't want to eat it, but maybe we can ask that young lady to come and try it."

Governor Zhu knew that Liang Yi was also a gourmet. He had eaten all over Raozhou City, but he could not forget the culinary skills. He must have some skills.

So Governor Zhu asked his cook where she lived and whether he could invite her to his house to cook a meal for his mother, and he was willing to offer her a reward.

Liang Yi nodded and told Xu Qinyu, "Zhu Taishou is a good official, and I don't want to disappoint him. Although I don't know where Miss Xu lives, she was staying at the Bafang Inn before, and I thought maybe Manager Zhou knew about it, so I went to the Bafang Inn."

Shopkeeper Zhou did know that Xu Qinyu lived in Yuanbao Town, but he was not sure of the exact location. Thinking that Madam Lu should know, he went to find Madam Lu overnight. Madam Lu had already learned from Zhen Wu where Miss Xu lived, so she told Shopkeeper Zhou. After returning, Shopkeeper Zhou asked his son to take Captain Liang on this trip.

After Liang Yi finished speaking, he told Xu Qinyu, "Miss Xu, you don't know that Governor Zhu is truly an upright official who only cares about the people. During the diarrheal illness in early summer, the new emperor sent a secret letter asking Governor Zhu to seal off Yuanbao Town and the three villages below it and massacre all the people in the towns. It was Governor Zhu who dragged on. When the diarrheal illness in Yuanbao Town was cured, Governor Zhu wrote a secret memorial to the capital and finally turned the tide and stopped the massacre."

Speaking of the new emperor's actions, Liang Yi's face looked a little ugly.

These people guarded the border town, protecting not only the nobles and royal family of the Great Sheng Dynasty, but also the common people of the Great Sheng Dynasty. However, the new emperor did not regard the common people as human beings at all.

Only then did Xu Qinyu realize that she was almost massacred when she had diarrhea. Her face changed slightly and she said, "Please wait a moment, I'll go back to my room to change clothes and then go with you." It was cold that day, and she definitely couldn't go out in this outfit.

Even without these things, she would actually be willing to take the trip.

Liang Yi immediately said, "Then let's go outside and wait for the young lady."

After saying that, he and Zhou Daqing went out, got on the carriage and waited.

Xu Qinyu went back to the house and changed into a thick blue-gray long coat. It didn't look very good, but it was thick and warm. Even though it wasn't too cold because of the snow in the southwest, the carriage was a bit drafty. It would take an hour and a half to get from Yuanbao Town to Raozhou City if you walked fast, and at least two hours if you walked slowly, so you needed to dress warmly.

Wen was worried about Yu Niang going alone, so she went back to her room and changed into a thick long skirt. She then told her mother Gui, "Mom, Yu Niang and I will definitely not be able to make it back in time for breakfast and dinner this morning. It's not a day off for the restaurant either. Mom, go to Aunt Bai this morning and tell Cheng Ge'er to post a notice outside the restaurant, saying that we have something to do and need to take a day off today. We apologize to the diners."

Gui already knew what was going on, and patted Wen's hand, "Don't worry, go to Raozhou City with Yu Niang, I'm at home."

Wen nodded and went out with Yu Niang.

Before leaving the house, Yu Niang took down the pickled ham hanging in the kitchen and cut a large piece of it horizontally.

She pickled this ham at the end of last winter, barely a year ago, and she hasn't eaten a single bite of it yet.

It takes a month to pickle ham, and the rest of the time is for fermentation. Half a year is the shortest fermentation time. Only after half a year is it barely edible and has a bit of ham flavor.

Generally, ham tastes best when it is fermented for two or three years. However, if you want to eat ham raw, it must be fermented for at least three years. The taste of ham fermented for three years is salty and delicate when eaten raw, and the fragrance will linger in your mouth for a long time after it is eaten.

Xu Qinyu originally wanted to ferment it for three years before eating it.

However, she opened a restaurant this year and started selling wine. She currently has about five thousand taels of silver in her hand, which is enough to pickle a large amount of ham. The only problem is that she has no place to store the ham. Her house is just big enough for living. She has been planning to ask if there are any houses for sale in Guihua Lane in the next few days. She wants to buy a yard of similar size to the one she lives in now, and use it specifically as a warehouse. Not only can she store the ham she is going to pickle next, but she can also put other vegetable pots and the like.

Now that she was going to cook for Old Lady Zhu, who was on her deathbed, she had to find a way to make her want to eat, so she used this almost one-year-old ham.

When Mrs. Wen saw that Yu Niang had taken down the ham, she was surprised. She thought that since Yu Niang's cooking skills were already so good, was there any need to touch the ham?

She remembered how much Yu Niang treasured this ham, and she said that after it had fermented for three years, she would let them taste the raw ham slices. She would look at it from time to time.

She wrapped the ham and put it in a basket. In the basket there were also her homemade mushroom powder, bean paste, fermented bean curd in a wooden barrel, some pickled vegetables, and a bag of rice.

Yinmi is glutinous rice that has been soaked, steamed and then dried in the shade. It can be used to cook porridge on a daily basis. It tastes very good, is easier to cook, and is soft, sticky and sweet.

The weather is cold now, so the restaurant has added a new dish, Yinmi and brown sugar porridge, for breakfast. It is very popular. Wen and her friends also like this dish for breakfast on weekdays.

Carrying the basket, Xu Qinyu and Wen went out.

There were not enough seats in the carriage, and the two women were women, so it was not convenient for them to ride in a carriage with a man from another family. So they went to the horse shop in the town to rent a carriage. Zhou Daqing and Liang Yi would both drive the carriage, and Liang Yi drove the carriage they rented to Raozhou City.

It happened at a very awkward moment, in the middle of the night.

It was snowing on the road, so the carriage didn't dare to go too fast. By the time we arrived at Raozhou City, it was already bright, around 3:54 am, and we had been traveling for more than two hours.

Liang Yi did not delay and sent the person directly to the prefect's mansion.

After getting off the carriage, Xu Qinyu glanced at the prefectural mansion.

The prefectural government's residence was much larger and more imposing than the county magistrate's residence in the town.

Liang Yi led the two of them through the back door, which led to the backyard, where the Zhu family lived. Zhu's father had passed away many years ago, leaving only his old mother. He had already married and had children, and now had grandchildren.

The backyard of the prefect's mansion was quite large, but as Prefect Zhu's family, including servants, numbered about ten or so, it was just enough to accommodate them. The backyard was kept clean and tidy, with some flowers and plants placed there, but not too many, so it was quite quiet.

Liang Yi took Xu Qinyu to see the prefect Zhu Wenyi.

Zhu Wenyi couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he saw Xu Qinyu. The young lady in front of him was really too young, with a fair and pretty face. She looked only two or three years older than his granddaughter. Could she really compare to the chef of the big restaurant in the city?

In fact, Liang Yi couldn't believe that Miss Xu had such cooking skills just by looking at her age and appearance. But he had eaten it and had seen Miss Xu cooking with his own eyes, so his thoughts naturally changed.

All I can say is, you can’t judge a book by its cover.

When Xu Qinyu and Wen saw Governor Zhu, they bowed and saluted.

When he saw Wen, Governor Zhu was slightly stunned. His eyes could not help but linger on Wen's face for a moment. However, he was worried that looking at other women like this would make people feel dissatisfied, so he suppressed his doubts and looked away.

When Xu Qinyu saw Governor Zhu, she felt that he looked quite kind and his eyes were gentle.

Xu Qinyu said, "After meeting the governor, how about I go and make breakfast for the old lady?"

Zhu Taishou said hello.

Even though he felt that Xu Qinyu looked too young, he would not really judge a person by their age.

Xu Qinyu and Wen went to the kitchen. Liang Yi was about to leave. Zhou Daqing thought for a moment and asked in a low voice, "Master Xu, do you want me to stay and help you in the kitchen?"

It was still easy for Xu Qinyu to cook for one person, but she still asked Zhou Daqing to stay as her helper in the kitchen.

Even if Liang Yi was enjoying the food made by Xu Qinyu at this moment, he would not be so tactless. He left the food for her at this time. He didn't know how to cook, and he couldn't stay to help in the kitchen, so he left first.

Zhu Taishou saw him out. When he went out the back door, he saw that Zhu Taishou was worried, and he couldn't help but say to Zhu Taishou, "Don't worry, my lord, the old lady will definitely eat it."

He simply believed in Miss Xu's cooking skills. You know, he disliked the raw fish porridge made by Miss Xu at first, but after tasting it, he, who didn't like porridge, could drink two clay pots of fish porridge in one breath, and he is still craving for it now.

It can be seen that Miss Xu is very skilled in cooking. She can cook things that he doesn't like to eat in a way that makes him miss them.

Governor Zhu nodded without saying much. He was even a little absent-minded, with other things on his mind.

After Liang Yi left, Governor Zhu went to the kitchen again, and couldn't help but glance at Wen. Finally, worried about his mother, he went to Old Lady Zhu's room.

Zhu, the wife of Magistrate Zhu, was standing in front of her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law was born in a poor family and her family was not wealthy. She gave away her father, who passed the imperial examination at the age of 18 and married Zhu after he passed the imperial examination. At that time, the Zhu family took a fancy to Magistrate Zhu and asked someone to find a matchmaker for him.

The Zhu family was also a family of officials, but in the capital city where there were countless nobles, the Zhu family was nothing special and their family background was only average.

Zhu had a gentle personality and had been living in harmony and love with Governor Zhu over the years. Governor Zhu treated her very well and had never had any concubines except her. She also respected her mother-in-law and the relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had been very good over the years. So now that her mother-in-law was about to pass away, she had been staying by her mother-in-law's side all these days, for fear that her husband was busy outside and her mother-in-law might pass away at any time.

Zhu asked, "Have the people arrived?"

Governor Zhu was still thinking about something else. Hearing this, he nodded and said, "We are here. We are already cooking breakfast in the back kitchen."

Zhu also began to feel uneasy, "I hope mother-in-law can eat some this time."

My mother-in-law hasn't eaten for several days and she is really worried.

When Governor Zhu went to my mother's bed, he saw that she had her eyes closed but her brows were still tightly locked. Even at this moment, I was still worried about my elder sister who had been abducted decades ago.

He couldn't help but recall his mother's appearance when she was young...

…

Xu Qinyu and Wen went to the kitchen of the prefect's mansion, which was quite large.

The Zhu family also has a chef. Governor Zhu does not care about food, and his cooking skills are average, not even as good as the assistant cooks in a restaurant. Old Madam Zhu didn't like the food he cooked a few days ago, so Governor Zhu invited a good chef in the city to cook for him. The old madam would eat reluctantly, but in the past few days, she has hardly eaten a grain of rice.

The cook of the Zhu family is a fat middle-aged man with a naturally smiling face, but at this moment he has a frown on his face, and it is obvious that he is also worried about Old Madam Zhu.

Xu Qinyu asked him, "What kind of breakfast did the chef who cooked for the old lady prepare a few days ago?"

The fat chef thought for a moment and said, "Most breakfasts are wontons, meat soup, egg soup, or meat soup porridge, big meat buns and vegetable buns, and rice porridge and millet porridge."

"What about evening meal?" Xu Qinyu asked again.

The fat chef gave another answer. Breakfast was a little lighter, while dinner was basically delicacies from land and sea, mostly big pieces of meat, and too greasy. The elderly were already in this state, and they probably had no appetite to eat these.

Xu Qinyu had some ideas in her mind.

She saw that although there were many ingredients in the kitchen, they were not prepared yet. She originally wanted to cook some Laba porridge for the old lady. Although it was not the Laba month yet, the weather was just starting to get cold, and it would be best to have some Laba porridge. However, Laba porridge required more ingredients, including several kinds of beans, and the beans needed to be soaked in advance. It would definitely be too late to soak them now.

Unable to make Laba porridge, she planned to make brown sugar glutinous rice porridge. She brought a lot of glutinous rice, which could be used.

Brown sugar rice porridge is very simple and convenient to make.

She asked the fat chef for some red dates and wolfberries, washed the red dates and wolfberries first, and removed the pits of the red dates and set aside.

Brown sugar is also boiled into brown sugar juice in advance.

Clean a large pot, heat it up, add some lard, and when the oil temperature is right, add the glutinous rice and stir-fry until it becomes fluffy and pops.

Add appropriate amount of water to the fried rice, bring to a boil over medium heat, then add red dates, wolfberries and brown sugar juice, and simmer for half a minute.

Brown sugar glutinous rice porridge tastes light, with a hint of brown sugar and the soft, glutinous and sweet red dates. The porridge made after the glutinous rice is fried is not only thick and sweet, but also full of grains and has a hint of chewiness. The flavors are intertwined and you can't stop eating one mouthful after another.

This is easy to make, and you don’t need to use small clay pots. You can cook it directly in a large pot. It is no problem to cook dozens of bowls at a time.

This bowl of brown sugar rice porridge is smaller than the clay pot of raw fish slice porridge at Xu Ji Restaurant, but it costs eight cents a bowl. However, it is a must-order breakfast for everyone.

When Xu Qinyu was cooking the brown sugar rice porridge, Zhou Daqing and the fat chef kept swallowing their saliva after smelling the aroma.

Although the fat chef didn't show it on his face, he felt the same as most people in his heart. The first time he saw Xu Qinyu, he felt that she was too young and her cooking skills might not be sophisticated enough. But facts speak louder than words. As soon as he smelled the fragrance of the porridge, he knew he was wrong. Although she was young, her cooking skills were probably very impressive.

After all, he only smelled the fragrance but never tasted it himself, so he could only guess the little cook's cooking skills by saying "it's probably very good."

When it was halfway through boiling, even Governor Zhu and Mrs. Zhu, who were taking care of Old Lady Zhu, were startled.

Zhu murmured, "What a nice smell."

It tastes better than the meals cooked by the chefs who came to your house before. It smells like dessert, a very sweet one.

Governor Zhu couldn't help but stand up. He said a few words to his wife, asking her to look after his mother while he went to the kitchen.

Xu Qinyu cooked a big pot of brown sugar rice porridge. She thought that it was still early and the other people in the prefect's mansion must not have eaten yet. Since she and Wen hadn't eaten yet, she naturally had to cook for them as well. She simply cooked more for everyone to eat together.

She cooked brown sugar rice porridge and asked Zhou Daqing to wash some radishes and cut them into fine shreds.

In winter, radish and cabbage have become the most common vegetables, and almost every household cannot do without these two vegetables in winter.

Add salt to the chopped radish and marinate for a quarter of an hour to squeeze out the water, then add egg, flour and some seasonings. She also added a little homemade mushroom powder to enhance the flavor. After mixing evenly, roll it into pancakes of similar size and fry them slowly over low heat with little oil.

Brown sugar rice porridge and shredded radish egg pancakes are enough, no need to prepare anything else.

However, Xu Qinyu still filled two plates with the fermented bean curd she brought from the wooden barrel, and also filled two plates each of the pickled side dishes, so that the breakfast was complete.

When she was making egg pancakes, Governor Zhu came over. Xu Qinyu also said, "Sir, breakfast is almost ready. I have made brown sugar rice porridge and radish egg pancakes. I have fried a lot of radish egg pancakes. You can take them to the old lady to eat first. When I finish making the rest, other people in the mansion can eat together."

Governor Zhu wanted to tell the young chef that his mother had not woken up yet and was still in a coma.

In the past few days, Old Madam Zhu spent a lot of time in a coma, so they didn't dare to wake her up. They waited until she was a little more awake before serving her food.

Just as he was about to speak, a maid came hurriedly from outside, with a look of joy on her face, "Sir, the old lady has woken up."

Governor Zhu could only nod to the young cook, then left the kitchen and went back to the yard.

As he left, he couldn't help but glance at Wen again.

Wen's heart was pounding, and she didn't understand why the prefect always looked at her.

Xu Qinyu could only continue frying shredded radish egg pancakes.

When Governor Zhu returned to the room, he found that his mother was indeed awake and was leaning on a large soft pillow. Although she was still a little dazed, she was talking to Zhu and asking what food the kitchen had prepared.

Zhu's face was full of joy as she whispered, "Master, mother was awakened by the delicious smell and said she was hungry and wanted to eat."

Governor Zhu didn't care about anything else and immediately asked the maid to go to the kitchen to serve breakfast.

The little maid quickly came over with the food box, took out the food inside and placed it on the table, including a bowl of brown sugar rice porridge, a plate of radish egg pancakes, a small dish of moldy tofu, and two dishes of salted vegetables.

The maid whispered, "Ms. Xu said this is brown sugar yin rice porridge. Yin rice is glutinous rice that has been cooked and then dried naturally. She said this brown sugar yin rice porridge can nourish yin and replenish deficiency, and benefit the spleen and stomach. Ms. Xu also said that this dish of fermented bean curd and salted vegetables were made by her herself and can be eaten with the porridge."

This was the first time Zhu heard about Yinmi.

Zhu Taishou had already brought the bowl of brown sugar yin rice porridge to my mother's bed. He blew on the porridge in the bowl, and when it cooled down slightly, he scooped up some porridge with a spoon and fed it to my mother, "Mom, drink the porridge. This is brown sugar yin rice porridge."

Although Old Lady Zhu was a little confused, she was not completely muddled, and now she knew that her son wanted to feed her.

She had smelled the fragrance early on and had a rare appetite, but her eyes were completely blind and she could only subconsciously open her mouth and put a spoonful of warm sweet porridge into her mouth.

Just one bite, you can taste the sweetness of red dates, the honey-like sweetness of brown sugar, and the fresh sweetness of rice porridge. The rice porridge grains are full, sticky yet chewy. Although it needs to be chewed, it is very easy to chew. These flavors are intertwined to form a bowl of good porridge.

After living for more than seventy years, Mrs. Zhu finally knew that there were such delicious foods in the world. Even though she had no appetite, this bowl of hot and sweet porridge whetted her appetite.

Old Madam Zhu couldn't help but open her mouth and wait for the second bite.

Seeing this, Governor Zhu and Mrs. Zhu finally felt relieved.